A Lyoko Youko
by happydemonhobo
Summary: AU:Crossover with Code Lyoko:Complete: Shuiichi Minamino finds himself substituting at Kadic Junior High and gets drawn into the world of XANA and Lyoko.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Code Lyoko…they belong to their creators and such.

Summary: Shuiichi Minamino finds himself substituting at Kadic Junior High and gets drawn into the world of XANA and Lyoko.

Rated: **E+ **

**A Lyoko Youko**

**Chapter 1: The substitute…**

It was just an ordinary day at Kadic Junior High, or so the three eighth grade boys thought. After saying good-bye to their friend Yumi, Jeremy, Odd and Ulrich headed to science class.

"Well guys, another day another chance to catch up on some sleep." Odd Della Robbia said while opening the door to allow the others to enter first.

"You know Odd, if you would sleep at night instead of listening to music and e-mailing girls, plus keeping me up, you could spare the class your snoring." Ulrich Stern said, taking his seat and letting out a yawn.

"Odd, are you still going on those chat lines?" Jeremy Belpois asked, placing his book bag on the floor before taking his seat.

"Hey, what do you expect…he's done been through all the girls here." Ulrich said.

"Listen, I don't have to hear this. I don't believe in love at first sight, you have to play the field." Odd said, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head.

"I said, Ms. Hertz is not coming today." The three heard and looked to see a long dark brown haired girl standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at a boy.

"But why…Ms. Hertz has never missed a day…that I know of." Another class mate named Herve said, not believing the girl.

"Hum." She started, throwing hair over her shoulder before crossing her arms in mock expression. "I overheard my father on the phone this morning talking to her. She said something about twisting her ankle in the garden or something."

"Should you be listening in on your father's phone conversations?" Another boy named Nicolas asked.

"Well, I could not help but overhear, we were eating at the same table when he was on the phone." She said.

Everyone in the whole school knew Elisabeth Delmas' father was the principal of Kadic Junior High and she reminded everyone everyday to that fact.

"Well do you know the substitute?" Ulrich asked.

"Ulrich dear, I don't know." She answered almost cooingly while walking over to lean on the desk in front of him. "He went to the office and made some phone calls and he didn't tell me." She told him, battering her eyelashes at him.

"Sorry I asked." He muttered, rolling his eyes. Everyone in the school also knew that Elisabeth (a.k.a. Sissi) had a crush on Urlich. But deep down his heart belong to the fourth member of their little group, Yumi Ishiyama, a ninth grader.

Just then the door opened and Sissi's father, Principal Jean-Pierre Delmas, walked in followed by a red haired man.

Clearing his throat, Principal Delmas got the class's attention and waited until everyone was seated and facing front before he spoke.

"Class, I'm sorry to say that Ms. Hertz will be absent for a few days. She's had an accident and will be in bed for a day or two. So I would like to introduce you to Mr. Shuiichi Minamino, he has a master in Biology and will be more then able to continue your lessons as planned. Please show him the same respect you would give to Ms. Hertz." He turned to address the red haired and shaking his hand, whispered "good luck" before leaving and closing the door behind him.

a)a)a)a)

Shuiichi (a.k.a. Kurama) Minamino placed his satchel on the chair before picking up the chalk and writing his name on the board. After which, he turned around and addressed the class.

"Hello, as Principal Delmas said, I am Mr. Minamino and as I do with all the classes I substitute for, I will take five minutes to answer any questions you may have."

His green eyes scanned the room, watching five hands go up, all girls.

"I will answer any as long as there are not any comments about my hair in the question." Kurama added.

Four hands went down.

"Yes…Elisabeth." Kurama said looking down to the seating chart on the desk, right next to a barely alive plant in a small decorative pot. The whole class cringed as they waited for her to tell him that she liked to be called Sissi. When nothing was said, the class turned and looked at her. Sissi's hand was still up and her mouth was slightly opened, she was also blushing.

"Ah…I…well it's not about your hair…I wanted to know how long you've been a teacher and…well, how old are you?" She managed to get out.

Kurama didn't even bat an eye at the questions. This was nothing new to him. He always had girls, from any grade he taught, have an immediate crush on him and some of the older girls, like in high school, even tried to seduce him.

"Two years and well…I will let you do the math on my age." Kurama answered. He looked at the seating chart again and saw Elisabeth's last name. 'Oh, she's the principal's daughter. I'll have to watch it with her.' "Any more questions?" He asked aloud. When no more hands rose, he said. "Well then…let us get started, shall we?" And picked up the lesson plan.

After being able to pick up where Ms. Hertz had left off on the study of micro-organisms, the bell finally rang and the class filed out.

The three boys lagged behind and noticed Sissi was not getting up, she was instead watching Mr. Minamino put away his papers before starting to erase the board.

"Come on 'Elisabeth'…you can't sit here and watch him all day." Ulrich said. The whole class had watched her ogled over the red head.

"Maybe she'll leave you alone for awhile Ulrich, I'd let her be." Odd started, but then turned and faced the girl. "And yeah, you never did get mad at him for calling you Elisabeth." He added. She had raised her hand every time a question had been asked and would give a giggle when he said her true name.

She finally seemed to brake out of her trance and gathering her books, replied smart-aleck. "It's Sissi to you." Her voice then turned sweet and innocent. "And as for him." She looked at the red head. "He's the only one to pronounce it right."

"Whatever." Ulrich said rolling his eyes and they all walked out.

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Encounter…**

Yumi sat her tray down and looked over at the group of girls flocking around another table. "Hey guys…did I miss something?" She asked, taking her seat at the lunch table beside Odd and across from Ulrich and Jeremy.

"Not unless you are into teenage crushes." Jeremy said.

"Now kids, leave him alone and let the man eat for god sakes." Jim "Jimbo" Morales, the school's gym teacher said, shooing the girls away from Mr. Minamino.

"Thank you Mr. Morales." They heard in return.

"Well I use to have girls flock all over me at your age. So I know how you feel." Jimbo said with pride in his voice.

"I'm sure you do." The red head said.

"Oh, I've met him. He's substituting for Ms. Hertz, right?" Yumi said, digging into her food.

"Don't tell me you're all goofy over him too." Odd said.

"Not really, he's nice and cute, but I have different taste and besides, he is way too old for me, but then again." Yumi said, still watching the scene.

"How do you know he's nice?" Ulrich asked with a little bit of jealousy in his voice.

"My French teacher invited him in to talk to the class because he's apparently fluent in many languages." She answered.

"Well he also has a master's in Biology. I'd say that man has more talents than we know." Jeremy said, looking at the red head.

"What makes you say that, Einstein?" Ulrich asked.

"I don't really know." Jeremy mumbled.

a)a)a)a)

Kurama walked among the trees and foliage on the outskirts of the school grounds.

'Ah…to get away for once.' He thought. Not all schools he substituted for had this kind of getaway. He reminded himself again that this was a private/boarding school. That's what made it so different from the others. The 'others' being public schools and more times than not, sitting right smack dab in the middle of a city. No where to escape, except maybe the greenhouse, if the school had one that is.

He was glad he took Principal Delmas up on his offer to stay at the school, instead of commuting from a hotel. This allowed him time to explore the school inside and out.

Not ready to do an inside tour yet, he found himself walking, ending up in a batch of trees not far from the school. Finding a large based tree, he sat down and immediately relaxed, feeling the aura move around him. Before long he started playing with a piece of grass, using his spirit energy to make it grow. He didn't get to use his powers much anymore, he hadn't been a tantei in a long time, but he still liked to make sure his powers were honed and practiced every chance he got.

His keen hearing picked up talking and wondering who on earth, especially children, would be out this time of evening, got him up to find out. Being the curious fox he's always been, he made his way to a large tree that could conceal him and watched.

'They are in one of my classes.' He thought, recognizing the three boys. The blonde haired one was Jeremy. The dark brown haired was Ulrich and the blonde spiked, with the purple spot on the front, was Odd. The black haired girl took him a moment before he remembered her from the French class he had been asked to speak to. Yumi was her name.

He didn't know what made him listen to the conversation, but he'd always been told by his friends that he was a curious fox. To him it came naturally because of his past life in thievery. This habit didn't go without its fair share of getting him into trouble though.

"Okay Jeremy…what's up?" Odd asked the blonde haired.

"I haven't heard from Aelita and I'm starting to get worried." He stated.

"She just left this morning. She probably hasn't had a chance to check in yet." Yumi said.

"And she did say it would take a day or two." Ulrich added.

"I know that, but she said she would check in this evening and she hasn't." Jeremy said.

"Relax…she's probably trying to hurry up so she can get back quicker and checking in would waste time." Ulrich tried to reason.

"Do you think XANA will try anything while she's there?" Yumi asked.

"I have the alerts up. If she's not back by tomorrow after classes, we're going in." Jeremy said.

"You got it." Odd said slapping the blonde on the shoulder.

"I need to get back. See-ya tomorrow and Jeremy don't worry yet, Aelita can take care of herself." Yumi said before turning and walking away.

The group split and two of the boys went back to the school. Kurama didn't notice the other two as the one caught up to the other and talked for a few minutes.

'Aelita….where have I heard that name.' Kurama thought as he headed back to the guest house, outback of the school grounds. 'Oh that is right. She is in the class with the others. She was absent and her cousin Odd said that she had to go home for a family emergency.'

He made it back and got ready for bed, but ended up thinking all night about whom this XANA person could be and he thought about keeping an eye on those four, it might turn out to be fun. Curiosity killed the cat, not the fox, as of yet.

a)a)a)a)

The next morning, students filed into class to find Kurama already there writing on the board. Very few noticed the now flourishing plant sitting on the edge of the desk.

Kurama turned from the board to address the class. "Well class, shall we pick up where we left off yesterday?" He said, picking up the lesson plan and flipping papers.

During class, Kurama watched the three boys that had got his attention the night before and noticed Jeremy looked liked he hadn't sleep. Ulrich looked indifferent and Odd looked, well the only way he could explain it was, 'anxiety.' He could guess they hadn't heard from their friend, for she was again absent.

After class Kurama stopped Odd before he left and asked. "Odd I was wondering if you had heard from your cousin and when she might be back."

"Oh sir...um haven't heard from her, but she could be busy…you know, her mom wasn't doing so well." Odd said, standing there and scratching his head nervously.

"I am sorry to hear that…please let me know if there is anything I can do." Kurama said.

a)a)a)a)

Kurama made it through the rest of the day and headed to the spot in the woods where he had seen the four the night before. He wanted to get there early enough so he could follow them if need be.

He was standing behind the same tree as before, waiting and sure enough the four appeared and started talking.

"I take it no word?" Yumi asked.

"No." Jeremy said with a shake of his head. "Let's get to the factory."

"Do you think it's wise to send all of us, XANA might think something's up if we all show up." Ulrich said.

"You have a point." Jeremy said. "But I don't want one of you to go alone. I shouldn't have let Aelita talk me into going alone and now she may be in trouble. You three can argue it out on which two get to go. Let's go."

"Do you hear that?" Odd said, closing his eyes and listening.

"No...what?" Ulrich said and they all turned to watch Odd as he tried to hear.

With Kurama's keen hearing, he was hearing something as well. 'Snakes' of various sizes started crawling out of the bushes, surrounding the group.

"Oh no." Yumi said turning her back to the group as they immediately formed a circle with their backs to each other.

"Do you think it's XANA?" Odd asked, keeping an eye on the more than a dozen or so snakes as they made to surround them.

"Has to be, snakes don't attack like this." Jeremy said. He was more in the center of the three.

Kurama couldn't sit back and watch this, he had to help. He slowly walked up, making sure not to attract the snake's attention to much.

"Looks like you could use some help." He said.

"Mr. Minamino, sir, what are you doing here." Jeremy asked, though deep down he was glad to see someone.

"I came out for an evening walk and you?"

"Uh…same thing sir." Odd said.

"I see."

"Watch it sir." Yumi said.

"For some reason I do not think they are after me." Kurama said, noticing the snakes hadn't even given him the barest of notice.

The snakes all hissed at once and began rising, while moving in on the group, making the group start to yell and cover their faces. "Rose Whip." They opened their eyes to see the snakes gone, not even a trace of them could be seen.

However, they looked down to see Kurama convulsing and writhing on the ground in agony like he was being zapped with a stun gun, while a black fog faded in and around him.

"XANA'S going to control Mr. Minamino." Yumi said her voice on the edge of panic.

"What do you want to do...?" Odd said. "I know…I'll stay while you make it to the factory." He decided.

After a moment, Kurama sat up and shook his head, trying to clear it and wondering what in the world that had been about.

"Sir, are you alright?" Jeremy asked, offering a hand and wondering if this man was going to attack him.

"I think I'm alright, what happened?" Kurama asked, taking the hand and standing. He began brushing off his clothes.

Noting that he was not acting like someone possessed by XANA and wondering how he'd been able to resist, the group just stood there in confusion.

"Wow what did you do?" Odd asked with a sense of curiosity in his voice and attempting to break the awkward moment. "And what did you say?"

Kurama stood there like nothing happened, since they were not willing to share, yet, he said. "I just yelled. It must have scared them away."

"Rrrrr…igh…t." Ulrich said under his breath, not believing it.

"Are you alright…is something wrong?" Kurama asked.

"Yes and no sir…thank you for scaring the snakes away." Jeremy said.

.

"Well apparently it is not safe out here, for any of us. You better get back to your rooms". Kurama said.

"Yes sir." They all said.

Kurama watched as they made their way back to the dorms and realized Yumi must live off campus as she walked the other way.

"_I don't know what happened, Kurama, but I felt like someone was trying to possess us and it wasn't demonic or spiritual." _Youko voice was heard in the back of his mind.

"_I agree, only with your help was I able to resist. We have never felt anything like that before, something is definitely going on and they know that something." _Kurama said mentally. _"And thank you."_ He added. Youko didn't respond, but Kurama could feel the fox perking up.

Tomorrow was Saturday and he was sure they would try to do something about their friend if she didn't get back tonight. 'Defiantly need to watch them now.' Kurama thought. Youko was perked up and eager for some excitement, _'this might just turn out to be invigorating'_ the fox spirit mused, for he'd not had fun in a long time.

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Discovery…**

Saturday morning found the three sitting at breakfast, though no one was eating.

"We need to go to the factory…now." Jeremy hissed. "With the attempted attack on Mr. Minamino, we can't wait for another." He grabbed his tray and stood, hoping it would get them to see how serious he thought the situation was.

"Have you been alerted to any activated towers?" Ulrich asked.

"No, but something's wrong. I can feel it." Jeremy answered.

"Okay Einstein…let's go then." Odd said, getting up with his tray and heading for the exit.

The other two followed, not paying any attention to the person behind a newspaper, listening. When they left the building, Kurama put down the paper and took his tray to the counter before following the three out the door.

Kurama heard one of them on a cell phone, but was keeping his distance, so he couldn't hear the conversation. He assumed they were contacting Yumi.

He followed them to the same woods as before and continued so until not much further from where they had been attacked by the snakes the night before. They stopped at what appeared to be a man-hole cover.

Yumi joined the group a few minutes later. "I was already heading here when you called." She said.

"I tracked Aelita's signal last night, she's moving all over the place and I still can't establish contact." Jeremy said while Odd removed the cover.

"We'll find her." Yumi said, starting to follow Odd, then Jeremy, with Ulrich following last.

a)a)a)a

"You guys know what to do." Jeremy told them. "Her last signal came from the ice region, we'll start there." He took his seat as the super computer started up.

"Let's do this." Odd said. The three had not even stepped out of the elevator and the doors closed to take them down to the basement where the pods were.

"Transfer…scanner…virtualization…."

a)a)a)a

With three on skateboards and one on a scooter, Kurama still managed to follow the group through a sewer system to another ladder. This in turn led to another man-hole cover which opened onto a bridge outside an abandon warehouse. He waited near a broken window, catching his breath and taking in his surroundings as he watched the four take a rope swing down to the floor in front of a freight elevator.

When the door closed, Kurama made his way in and used his 'rose whip' to swing down. He again counted to ten before pushing the button.

Jeremy heard the door and turned to look, not knowing who in the world it could be. His eyes went wide as he saw Mr. Minamino standing there taking in the view.

"Sir…um…what are you doing here?" Jeremy asked, trying to keep the look of shock off his face.

"I followed you of course. You should be more careful." Kurama said, stepping in and coming over to the computer. "So, is this XANA?" He asked.

"You've been spying on us…" Jeremy gasped. "The wood, the snakes…why?" He asked.

"Let's just say I have a knack for action and getting myself into things." Kurama said. "Care to explain."

"Why should I trust you?" Jeremy asked, though something inside him told him he could.

"I was able to not be possessed, if that is what this thing was trying to do to me last night." Kurama said, still studying the computer.

"How were you able to do that? Only the five of us can resist that I know of." Jeremy wondered.

"I will trust you with a secret, one that may explain. I am a spirit fox, one living here in the human world as the person you see now. I do not think we have time for me to tell you the whole story, your friends look like they are in trouble." Kurama said, he had been looking at the blimps on the screen as he explained and wondering why he said what he said. He never just shared information like that with anyone. 'Well, there was Yusuke.' He thought.

"Jeremy…we have company." They heard Odd say.

"You could have warned us." Ulrich's voice was heard with a little irritation in it.

"Sorry, I have company as well." Jeremy replied, looking at the red head. He wanted to believe the story he'd just heard and could not explain to himself the feeling if trust coming off this person beside him.

"Is it the snakes again?" Yumi asked.

"No…it's Mr. Minamino, he followed us here."

Nothing more was heard, except for the sounds of blasting and other noises of fighting.

"Guys, there are three blocks on your right, coming fast." Jeremy said, turning his attention to the computer. "Yumi…that was 10 life points."

"Can you send me?" Kurama asked.

"Why?" Jeremy asked, looking stunned.

"Because I can help."

"We have been doing this since the beginning of the year. They can handle themselves." Jeremy said. "Besides, you don't even know the whole story or what we are doing."

"I learn fast…trust me." Kurama replied.

"We are fighting XANA who lives in this virtual world called Lyoko. He's trying to take over the human world. Our friend Aelita went Thursday morning on a secret mission to get some information and has not come back." Jeremy stated.

"And you sent her alone." Kurama said with a raised eyebrow.

"It was not my idea, you see, she use to live in Lyoko and we brought her here to live in the human world not to long ago." Jeremy said and couldn't control the fear and sadness from creeping into his voice as he continued. "She knows the territory better than all of us right now and knew where to go."

"You also didn't want to arouse suspension by sending someone else." Kurama said. He'd been pondering all of this, wanting to know more, but felt like he 'needed' to go to this world. "Send me." He said again.

"Okay." Jeremy said, finally agreeing, but still didn't know why he was. "Though I don't know why I trust you…take the elevator down to the basement and get into the first pod on your right. I don't know what you'll look like. Your image will be based on your abilities and how you view yourself." He instructed.

"Then I know exactly how I will look." Kurama said, turning and heading to the elevator door.

"Wait…Mr. Minamino…I should tell you…." Jeremy yelled as the door closed.

"Call me Kurama." He heard and with that, the doors closed.

The doors opened to reveal three pod type devices, apparently these were what transported the group to the virtual world.

Kurama stepped into the pod and the door closed. He stood there waiting for something to happen and finally heard a hum followed by Jeremy's voice.

"Transfer…um…Kurama…scanner…virtualization."

Kurama closed his eyes as a rush of wind blew upwards, blowing his hair straight up.

End Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: In Lyoko…**

Kurama felt himself getting lightheaded as the pod faded from view. His next sensation was of floating and he opened his eyes to see an ice world before the sense of falling. Luckily he managed to land in a crouch position, having the keen instinct of a cat to land on his feet.

"Ops…I tried to tell you about that." He heard Jeremy say. Kurama looked around and didn't see the boy, but did see the other three. The fighting had ended, so he studied them just as they studied him. He realized that even though it looked liked he was in an ice region of some sort, he was not cold. Well not as cold as he could have been were this a real place. He still felt a chill through his thin white tunic.

Odd looked like a cat-man of sorts. His hair was the same spike blonde with purple stripe, but he was wearing a purple body style outfit, with tattoo markings on his face and he notice claws. There was a picture of a dog on his chest and Kurama could see a tail twitching behind him. Yumi looked like a geisha, only wearing a shorter kimono that was red and black shorts, but he had no doubt that it was a cover for her skills. Ulrich looked like a modern day samurai, in shades of brown, complete with a katana at his hip.

"And just what are you suppose to be?" Ulrich asked, noticing the silver ears and a tail that was twitching with what he thought was nervousness, but was actually excitement.

Kurama didn't answer as he mentally studied himself. He had Youko's image, but all of his human traits. Like one, he was not seven feet tall like Youko. He was his human height of about 5'7". Two, he did not have Youko's attitude because the spirit fox was still in the back of his mind and he heard. _'Well this is amusing, but not at all what I had expected.' _He was glad to be Kurama and not the harsh, ruthless spirit fox, who obliviously had been hoping to come out and play.

"He's a spirit fox." Jeremy's voice was heard.

"Oh my." Was all Yumi could say, getting a look from Ulrich.

"I guess you three deserve an explanation." Kurama said, noticing the third difference. He had Shuiichi's voice and not the cold deep tone of Youko. "I will give you the short version that I gave Jeremy and explain the rest later." He received nods from everyone.

"Like Jeremy said, I am a spirit fox and this is somewhat my true form. It is a long story as to how I came to be in the human world and I would rather not go into the story right now. I ask that you trust me and I will help you in any way I can in getting your friend back. You can call me Kurama."

"I don't know." Ulrich said, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"This is kind of weird even for me." Odd said, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Listen guys, we don't have much time. Aelita is in trouble and I trust him, don't ask why…I just do." Jeremy's voice came from the sky.

"Where to then?" Yumi asked.

"You need to head east, to the tower. Her signal is no longer there." Jeremy informed.

"I will follow your lead." Kurama said.

"Then try to keep up." Ulrich said and took off, running just below his 'super sprint' speed.

"Don't pay attention to him. He doesn't play well with others." Odd said with a smile.

"That's fine…he kind of reminds me of a very close friend." Kurama said and took off running to catch up to the fighter.

Ulrich looked to the fox before going into 'super sprint', leaving the fox behind. Kurama backed off and waited for the others to catch up. In a few minutes, they were in view of what looked like a white tower.

Kurama stopped and placed his hands on his knees, panting lightly. The other two stopped beside him. Looking to the tower, they saw Ulrich already there, pacing with his hand on the hilt of his sword and looking somewhat annoyed.

"Are you okay?" Yumi asked after catching her breath, Odd was still panting beside her.

"Now I know he is related to Hiei." Kurama smirked.

"Who?" They both said, confused.

"Nothing…just a joke, now what?" He asked, walking to the tower and not seeing an entrance.

"Her signal is now in the forest region. I don't understand why she keeps moving and how she's moving so fast and I still can't make contact." Jeremy said.

"How do we get to the forest area?" Kurama asked.

"We have to go through the tower and it will take us there." Yumi answered. "Just follow us."

Kurama followed, still unsure as to how to get into this tower thingy. He watched as Ulrich walked right through, dissolving into the structure, Odd followed, then Yumi. He just shrugged and walked through, watching the ice region dissolve before finding himself in a round room, black all around, except the floor that had some type of symbol made of black and white circles. It began to light up as the others walked over it to the other side. He walked over to them and waited.

"Jeremy, we're ready." Yumi said, opening her arms and leaning forward. She then proceeded to 'fall' off the platform.

"What!" Kurama gasped, his eyebrows raised as he walked to the edge to look over. It was nothing but a black hole.

"It's okay." Jeremy said. "It will take you to another tower…just follow what the others do."

Ulrich didn't even look at the fox as he too opened his arms and proceeded to fall off the platform.

Odd looked to him and smiled. "See you there." He said as he too fell off, disappearing into the darkness.

Kurama didn't know what to think. This whole thing was starting to get to him, even with everything he'd been through in his experiences, yet he knew he wanted to stay here. Youko's curiosity was still pushing him forward. He walked to the very edge and opened his arms. If the others could do it, which obviously they have many times before, then so could he, so closing his eyes, he let himself fall forward. Opening his eyes, he found himself falling, but not as fast as he would be if he were, like falling off a building. He was being controlled by some sort of gravity. As he fell, he had the sense of falling 'up' to something and his body did a flip before he was above another platform. He went to place his foot down to land, but his balance was a little off, making him want to fall backwards and he flared his arms in attempt to catch himself.

A hand reached over and grabbed his wrist, stopping him from falling back over the edge. After he righted himself, in mind and in body, he looked to the hand on his wrist. Ulrich quickly let go and walked the platform to the other side, dissolving to the outside.

"Thank you." Kurama said softly, he was sure the boy had heard him because he got a soft. "Yeah whatever" before he disappeared. Kurama controlled a smirk and headed out with the others as they too made their way out of the tower.

Upon exiting this tower, he saw they were in a forest that looked, well, virtual. Kurama didn't know how to describe it, except like some type of computer game scenery.

"Jeremy, we're here." Yumi said.

"She's south-east of you, on the far edge of the region." Jeremy's voice said. "She's not moved for awhile…get there as fast as you can."

"We could use our vehicles." Odd said, looking to the sky. "If you don't mind."

"Can do, just give me a minute."

Before Kurama's eyes, three 'vehicles' appeared, a one wheeled motorcycle, an oversized base floating scooter and a floating skateboard.

"You better hurry guys. I just picked up an activated tower in the desert region and something just came on the cameras, the warehouse is being surrounded by snakes." Jeremy informed them.

"When it rains, it pours." Odd said.

"Okay Jeremy." Yumi said.

"That doesn't sound good." Kurama said.

"Its okay, all we need to do is get Aelita and she'll deactivate the tower and everything will go back to normal." Odd said. "Besides, Jeremy's locked in the control room. He can hold them off until we get the princess and then we can go back."

"How?" The fox wondered.

"No time to explain. Trust us, we know what to do." Yumi said, jumping on her over-wing. "You can ride with me, hop on."

Kurama felt eyes boring into him and looking to Ulrich, the phrase 'if looks could kill' came to mind. So picking the better part of valor, he decided against riding with Yumi. He was going to ask Ulrich for a ride, for he liked the idea of the motorcycle, but the boy kicked the machine in gear and road off, leaving the others in the dust.

"Hop on with me. I'll take you on the ride of your life." Odd said with a cocky smile.

Kurama shrugged and watched as Odd did a mid-air flip, landing on the floating board. He then cocked his head, motioning for him to 'hop on'. Kurama smiled and doing his own flip, landed on the board behind the show off kid.

"Hold on." Odd warned, tapping his foot. The board shot off with Yumi following behind.

Kurama didn't think he needed to hold on until the board started picking up speed and Odd started swerving hard, almost throwing him off and giving the fox no choice but to grab onto the small waist.

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Rescue…**

They traveled for a short time and everything was eerily quiet, except for the sounds of the vehicles.

"XANA has to know we're here by now." Ulrich said through clenched teeth. "Why hasn't he attacked?"

Jeremy's voice came to them in a rush of words, his panic evident. "Guys, there's a large group of monsters ahead. I'm estimating at least 30. Give me a minute and I will have the breakdown."

"It may be wise to continue on foot from here on, if we wish to retain the advantage of surprise." Kurama said.

"Oh he knows we're here, but for some reason he's ignoring us." Ulrich retorted.

"I think Kurama's right Ulrich." Yumi said.

"Yeah." Echoed Odd. "We're sitting ducks on this board."

Eyeing Kurama, Ulrich snarled. "Alright, but I want to leave the vehicles ready for a quick getaway."

The gang jumped off their vehicles, setting them up for a rapid escape.

They ran towards the trees, each hiding behind their own, but still within talking distance. Looking past the trees into the clearing, they saw the monsters. All types of monsters were present. There were hornets, crabs, blocks and even a mega-tank. They were gathered in a semi-circle around a scipizoa that held Aelita in its tentacles. The back half of the circle was open. The monsters had the scipizoa's back to the digital void.

"Guys, I have the breakdown." Came Jeremy's voice.

They all ducked back behind their tree.

"My count was a little off." Jeremy said.

"How many is a little." Quipped Odd.

"I counted 37." Stated Kurama, the rest just stared at him, bewildered.

"You counted them all in that brief glance?" Yumi breathed.

"Kurama's right, there are 37 of them, including the scipizoa. But the strange thing is…." Jeremy was cut off.

"The other monsters are trying to attack the scipizoa." Ulrich stated.

Jeremy continued. "Yes, they seem to be trying to get Aelita away from it."

"Jeremy, has Aelita memory been erased?" Yumi asked.

"No." Jeremy said. "What I think happened, at least what the computer can tell me, is that the scipizoa somehow got damaged. That must be why the others are trying to get her away from it so they can destroy it. XANA must have been trying to take care of it himself and didn't launch an attack until we decided to do something. What do you see exactly?" He asked.

"Too far to tell." Ulrich answered.

"But Aelita does look unconscious. We need to get to her before they go too far." Yumi said.

"Yumi's right, we need to get her before they all fire at once and it 'and' her goes over the edge into the digital void." Odd stated.

"I will sneak around to the far side of the clearing and make a distraction. Then you three can sneak in to save Aelita." Kurama suggested.

"You can't do it alone." Yumi countered.

"Yumi's right…and besides, you would be cut down in seconds." Ulrich said.

"Oh, you might be surprised." Kurama said with a hint of a smile ghosting his lips that made shivers run up everyone's back.

"How do you destroy these things?" He asked.

"You need to hit the symbol on their body." Yumi answered. "However, the mega-tank's target is on the inside making it hard to get to because it's only visible when it opens to fire."

Kurama only got to nod his understanding, before he could ask anything else.

Odd cried. "Guys, enough small talk…their heeeereeee." Looking past him, they could see a swarm of hornets streaking their way.

"Time for action!" Ulrich cried as he drew his katana and rushed at the fast approaching creatures, Odd and Yumi were quickly on his heels.

Kurama raced after the trio while reaching behind his ear to pull out a rose. "Rose Whip." He called as the whip formed. It struck dead center on the symbol of one of the hornet's head, exploding it into a shower of triangles before fading. 'That felt good.' He thought.

Flames burned up Kurama's leg as a bolt hit him. "Ouch." He cried.

"That took 10 life points Kurama." Jeremy said to him.

"And if I lose all my life points." He asked.

You'll dematerialize and return to the pods." Came the answer.

"Comforting to know." Kurama said, still striking at the hornets, which now knew he was a threat and were dodging his whip.

Looking around, Kurama saw Ulrich battling two hornets that remained out of reach of his sword. Yumi just caught her fan, from a missed throw at one. Odd cried out as two simultaneous bolts hit him.

"Odd, you only have 20 points left."

Kurama looked past the gang towards the main group of monsters. A huge orb was beginning to roll towards them, followed by 10 blocks.

'We can not win this fight. I must get around them and get to the girl, without them hitting me.' He thought.

He began sprinting away from the fight while calling on his spirit energy and a white mist appeared before a silver fox with five tails began running through the battle ground.

"Kurama, where are you? You dropped off my screen." Jeremy called.

Kurama tried to call out to Jeremy, but only a 'yelp' escaped his throat. 'Oh well.' He thought and continued running.

"Do any of you see Kurama?" Jeremy cried.

"No." They all said in unison.

"But Jeremy, there's a silver fox with um….let's see…one…um…two…FIVE tails." Odd said, as he watched the spirit fox go bolting across the field, dodging around the monsters.

"If I can't see him then maybe the monsters can't either." Jeremy said then added. "If you can hear me Kurama…go for it."

Kurama watched the large black ball, apparently the mega-tank, roll towards Yumi. It opened to reveal an eye held by connective tissue. The eye began warming up, obviously getting ready to fire. It fired a red wall of sorts that disintegrated everything in its path. Before it closed, Kurama ran right through it and dropped a seed. It would not be opening again.

He was within 20 feet of the scipizoa, when Jeremy screamed. "Oh no, Odd's been taken out and there's snakes in the pod room." A few seconds later, Kurama heard Jeremy again. "I know Ulrich, but you need to cover Kurama."

Nearing the scipizoa, Kurama could see the extent of the damage. Two of its long tentacles were mere stubs and arcs of lightning raced across its skin. Half of its globe shaped head was blackened. It held Aelita in several tentacles, like a mummy.

The fox raced up the nearest crab and using its head like a spring board launched himself at the creature. He hit the scipizoa square in the chest, knocking it back some, closer to the void. Biting the tentacles holding the girl, he managed to get it to let her go and she fell to the ground listless. As soon as Aelita hit the ground, the remaining monsters, that had not gone to fight the others, started firing at the scipizoa. Kurama jumped down and grabbed the girl by her shirt, pulling her to the safety of the trees. He placed her down and turned just in time to see the scipizoa fall backwards over the edge, into the digital void.

Changing forms, Kurama picked up Aelita and ran around to the other side of the battle field, using the trees as cover. When he was on the back side of the fighting, he stopped.

Still holding the girl in his arms, who was clad in pink, he looked her over for injuries and noticed her elf like ears. She moaned and her eyes fluttered open. "Hello there, are you alright." He asked after she focused on him.

"What! Who are you…where are the others?" She asked in panic while taking her small hand and pushing on his chest in an attempt to get away.

"It's okay…they are a little busy right now, so I'm here to help." He told her and looked around the tree, trying to spot Ulrich. What he ended up seeing were three Ulrich's in a triangular configuration around a block. He just watched in amazement as the creature attacked two and the third one, obviously the real one, jump up to ram his sword in its eye, causing it to explode.

Kurama smiled. "Ulrich." He yelled, getting the fighter's attention. The boy ran over, dodging blasts to get to his side. "She's okay. Go now and Yumi and I will distract them so you can get to your bike and then to the tower." He told him.

Ulrich took Aelita in his arms and giving a sharp nod, took off in the direction of the vehicles in 'super-sprint'.

Kurama avoided a few blasts aimed at his head and took a deep breath while drawing his rose. He heard Youko in his head. _'Here we go.'_

He fought with everything he had, but they kept coming.

He noticed Yumi, who was holding the monsters off as best she could. "Hang in there a little longer. Ulrich's getting her to the tower." He yelled.

Yumi looked over to him with a weak smile on her lips. He could tell she was exhausted, but she was still holding her own. She blocked a few blasts that pushed her back, but she maintained her balance and threw a fan, taking out a crab.

The fighting continued and he managed to take out several himself before being surrounded, the blasting intensifying until he could not longer block them.

The last two things Kurama remembered were a sting to his back and Yumi screaming his name.

a)a)a)a

The pod opened and Kurama leaned out, grabbing the edge of the door to keep from falling. He felt like he'd been slammed back into his body and felt nauseated, with no coordination and blurry vision. With his body tingling all over, like it had been asleep, he made his way to the two forms laying on the floor next to the elevator. That's when he saw the snakes all around the area.

Calling his rose whip, he grabbed the two unconscious bodies and cleared a path while along the way dropping seeds that grew to hold the snakes back. Getting in the elevator, he dropped the two on the floor before pushing the button.

When the door opened to the computer area, Kurama picked up Odd and making sure he was fine and that the snake bites were not poisonous, laid him on the floor outside the door. He went back and picked up Jeremy, making sure to close the door to the elevator so the snakes would have a harder time getting in. Jeremy jerked in his arms and woke up.

"Mr. Mina…Kurama, what happened?" He asked.

"I found you down in the pod room and brought you back here." The red head answered. "The snake bites you have don't appear to be poisonous." He said, placing the boy on his feet, but holding his shoulder.

"Odd!" Jeremy yelled, seeing his friend laying on the floor, still out.

"He will be fine. There's a slight bump on his head and his bites are not poisonous either." Kurama informed.

"I need to get to the computer. Is Aelita safe?" Jeremy asked and got a nod from the red head. "Is she on her way to the tower?"

"Yes, I got her away from that creature and Ulrich's getting her to the tower. Yumi and I tried to hold the others off, but as you can see, there is only her now." Kurama informed.

Jeremy went to walk towards the computer, but fell to his knees. Kurama grabbed him and picking the boy up, walked to the computer and placed him in the chair.

"Thanks…I'm sorry. You may not remember any of this." Jeremy said, typing as fast as he could.

"What?" Kurama said with surprise in his voice.

"Usually no one but the five of us remembers the events that took place. Again I'm sorry." Jeremy said and closed his eyes with sorrow.

"You said 'may not' that 'usually' means 'may'…why?" Kurama asked.

"Because you have been to Lyoko and that may change things. It's really hard to explain and we don't have time, Aelita's in tower and getting ready to deactivate it."

"Jeremy, if I do not remember, you will still remember my secret." Kurama said and received a nod. "Then I am trusting you to keep my secret and I swear to keep yours if I remember any of this…thank you for a once in a lifetime adventure." He turned to the computer screen when he heard.

"Tower deactivated."

Jeremy looked to Kurama. "Thank you for everything and we swear…return to the past now."

Kurama's world went blank.

End Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Déjà vu….**

The next morning, students filed into class to find Kurama already there, writing on the board. Very few noticed the now flourishing plant sitting on the edge of the desk.

Kurama turned from the board to address the class with the biggest sense of 'déjà vu.' He looked to the three boys who had gotten his attention the night before. Jeremy didn't look as scared as he did yesterday. Ulrich looked, again, indifferent, but he had come to accept that. Odd still looked 'anxiety.' He looked to the girl, Aelita, who the three had mentioned and saw her smiling at him. He smiled back and was glad to see her in class.

"Well class, shall we pick up where we left off yesterday?" Kurama asked. "And Aelita, it is nice to meet you, I'm glad you're back and hope everything is okay with mother." He added before picking up the lesson plan and flipping pages.

Getting a confused look on her face, Aelita turned to Jeremy for an answer, he mouthed. "Tell you later."

Knowing she should say something, she said. "She's fine and um…thank you, sir."

a)a)a)a

"We seem to have finished early." Kurama said, closing his book. Before he could continue though, there was a soft knock on the door. It opened to reveal Principal Delmas.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to inform the class before the weekend." He said.

"That is fine sir, we just finished." Kurama said.

"Class, I wanted to let you know Ms. Hertz will be back on Monday and that she will be just fine after her accident. Have a good weekend and you should thank Mr. Minamino on your way out for coming all this way to teach you." The principal told them.

The bell rang and the students filed back out giving 'thank you(s)' and 'thanks' as they passed.

Outside in the hall, the four stopped as Yumi made her way through the halls towards them.

"Hey, how was it? Do you think he remembers?" She asked.

"He didn't seem to, but I don't know, I think we can trust him though. Besides, who would believe him anyways?" Ulrich said.

"Yeah and we have his little secret." Odd said. "So he's obviously going to trust us."

"And who would believe us?" Jeremy said.

a)a)a)a

Back inside the classroom, Principal Delmas was talking to the red head. "I want to thank you again for coming all this way and coming on such short notice. You are more than welcome to stay the weekend if need be."

"Thank you, but no, I would like to get home to my family and friends, spend the weekend with them." Kurama politely declined.

"By all means, I understand, you seem to be a fine teacher and I will not hesitate to call on you again." Delmas praised and went to shake hands.

Kurama reached out with his hand and felt a familiar presence. "Thank you, sir." He said and after the hand shake Mr. Delmas said. "Safe trip." Then left, closing the door behind him.

Kurama turned to the sound of a soft thud coming from the window. He watched as a black cloaked figure jumped down and then leaned against the frame.

"Hello." Kurama said, proceeding to gather his stuff, shove papers in his satchel and organized the desk.

"So…you're free to leave this place?" He heard.

"Yes." He said and waited, for there was always something else said.

"Why do you feel the need to affiliate yourself with and teach these stupid immature ningens? There can't be any ameliorate or recourse from it."

The red head smiled. "There is more to it than you know, my friend."

End Chapter 6

**The End**

Continues in - A Lyoko Dragon?


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